2010 Vancouver Olympics

[JoeHova]

It wasn't figure skating that was on though. It was ice dancing, you know, the sport like figure skating for less athletic people.

Yes, that was less than compelling.

[TooLiveBrew]

NBC's coverage has been head-scratching at best. They have most certainly figured out how to attract the fewest number of viewers to their prime-time coverage. It's embarrassing, really, when you stop to think about their coverage. It's really like they tried to plan out how to attract the lowest possible amount of viewers.

"And then, right when we've got an audience, we'll cut away from the aerials skiing & show some ice dancing -- that should cut viewership at least in half! Not to mention the fact that the games are being held in the Pacific time zone & we're going to show things on severe tape-delay. There's no way we'll have any loyal viewers... this is perfect!"

[Diskono]

Bring back the Olympic Triplecast!

[Patrick425]

There is just way too much skating and it's taking up way too much prime time coverage. There's singles, doubles, dancing, figure skating, not to mention the several phases of each competition. I know that there is a certain demographic that loves the "sport", but then there is a certain demographic that has no interest in it at all and you can hear all the TVs turning to other entertainment such as college basketball or something like that.

 

Also, Is there one phase of figure skating where the skaters actually have to skate figure 8's and other figures? I swear that I saw this televised during one of the Olympics (maybe it was during the Harding/Kerrigan drama). Talk about boring.

 

Edit: OK...found this on Wikipedia..guess they don't do the compulsory figures anymore:

 

Compulsory figures, in which skaters use their blades to draw circles, figure 8s, and similar shapes in ice, and are judged on the accuracy and clarity of the figures and the cleanness and exact placement of the various turns on the circles. Figures were formerly included as a component of singles competitions but were eliminated from those events in 1990. Today figures are rarely taught or performed. The United States was the last country to retain a separate test and competitive structure for compulsory figures, but the last national-level figures championship was held in 1999

[FVBrewerFan]

Like it or not, skating attracts viewers. NBC may be stupid, but advertisers are not. They're not going to shell out money without knowing what events will be aired when their ads run. The advertisers drive what is shown in prime time. Even though most of us here would rather see hockey, the alpine events, etc., that's not a very representative sample.

 

The problem with NBC is that they don't have any other decent channels to do a triple-cast sort of programming. If ABC had the covg, then ESPN, ESPN2, et.c could pick up the REAl sporting events.

[endaround]

NBC has a ton of channels they can put the Olympics on. They are already using USA, MSNBC, and CNBC. They could easily remove all of MSNBC's programming during the Olympics. I mean its mostly talkshows during weekdays and bad Dateline specials during weekends. CNBC is even worse during non business hours when its mostly just infomercials. In addition they could through things on Bravo and SyFy. They don't do it because they want to pick and choose from different things to air in prime time.

[thebruce44]

I see the American ski coach is the same. You can hear him in the start house.

I don't think he is actually a coach. I think he is pretty much just a hype man.

[MJLiverock]

They do as much multi casting during the winter Olympics because I just dont' think there are nearly as many events in comparison to the summer. I have the Olympics app on my phone and it shows each days scheduled events and most have been aired. Lately all there is during the day is curling, hockey, and skiing, all of which have been on some channel or another.

 

The figure skating may not appeal to the demographic of this message board but it is probably among the highest ratings for the Olympics if not the highest rated event. Figure skating events in non Olympic settings draw pretty good audiences and even Dancing With the Stars (gag) gets big audiences.

 

Heck, even I would rather watch figure skating than curling any day. Hot women in skimpy outfits with the chance of wipeouts vs. shuffleboard on ice is no contest.

 

 

Edit: The U.S. Figure Skating Championships in late January were the highest rated non NFL sporting event on cable or broadcast TV during the week they aired. http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/ratings-rise-for-us-figure-skating.html

[endaround]

Fine show ice skating, but why hold all the skiing then? All you see is about 4 runs because they use it as filler.

[MJLiverock]

I too like the skiing but since the skiing is usually held during the day they have to show it tape delayed in primetime and often a lot of people already know who medaled and the networks get complaints about not showing enough live events. I know I have had to change the radio station a few times driving home from work to avoid the excited announcer having to tell me who one the day's events. I knew Vonn had fallen in the combined because it was on the radio and I knew Miller got a gold before getting home to watch the events. I now know to just change the channel as soon as they start talking olympics.

[bjkrautk]

NBC has a ton of channels they can put the Olympics on. They are already using USA, MSNBC, and CNBC. They could easily remove all of MSNBC's programming during the Olympics. I mean its mostly talkshows during weekdays and bad Dateline specials during weekends. CNBC is even worse during non business hours when its mostly just infomercials. In addition they could through things on Bravo and SyFy. They don't do it because they want to pick and choose from different things to air in prime time.

Not to mention Universal Sports, which ironically isn't airing any of the Olympics events live....but will have the U.S. Olympic Curling Team trials from Feb. 2009 on TV friday morning....so there's that.

 

(We received Universal Sports as a digital sub-channel after our local NBC station made the switch from analog to digital. I'm assuming most of the country gets it as well.)

 

[JoeHova]

Wow, a Dutch speedskater missed a crossover in the 10,000 and cost himself the gold medal. He had the race won by 4+ seconds but forgot to change lanes. Wow. The Netherlands must be in shock right now.

[logan82]

Hot women in skimpy outfits with the chance of wipeouts vs. shuffleboard on ice is no contest.

 

Those outfits are not as skimpy as they appear. Most of what looks like skin isn't.

[Schlitz001]

And I'm guessing you haven't seen the Russian's women curling team.....

 

I saw the Dutch speedskater, Sven Kramer, on the highlights and it was his coach that told Kramer to switch lanes when he wasn't supposed to. Kramer was actually skating the course correctly, but the coach messed up and told him to switch it up. Bob Costas made it sound like his coach will never be able to return to the Netherlands as serious as the Dutch are about skating.

[logan82]

And I'm guessing you haven't seen the Russian's women curling team.....

Meh, takes a little more than pretty women to make a sport interesting. Any sport that can be done while holding a beer in one hand isn't really a sport. It is a game.

[Jimbo]

Wow, a Dutch speedskater missed a crossover in the 10,000 and cost himself the gold medal. He had the race won by 4+ seconds but forgot to change lanes. Wow. The Netherlands must be in shock right now.

 

I haven't seen as much speed skating as I would have liked, but NBC actually had televised live in its afternoon broadcast. It was interesting to watch it develop. That guy threw his glasses and screamed at his coach while Dan Jansen and the other commentator were going "doesn't look very happy for someone who just won gold."

If you want women in skimpy outfits, google - video Gillian Cooke

 

 

[Schlitz001]

Well the pretty women certainly don't hurt the sport. And you have a lot more free beer hands sitting in a dugout or a bullpen so I'm sure about that argument.

[NeedMoreFans]

Wow, a Dutch speedskater missed a crossover in the 10,000 and cost himself the gold medal. He had the race won by 4+ seconds but forgot to change lanes. Wow. The Netherlands must be in shock right now.

I told my wife that was like the 3rd base coach sending the runner home when the shortstop has the ball...only it's in Game 7 of the World Series.

[logan82]

Well the pretty women certainly don't hurt the sport. And you have a lot more free beer hands sitting in a dugout or a bullpen so I'm sure about that argument.

Other than the sweepers you can drink beer while participating without setting it down or dramatically altering what you have to do. You have to set your beer down to bat or field in most cases.

[bjkrautk]

Well the pretty women certainly don't hurt the sport. And you have a lot more free beer hands sitting in a dugout or a bullpen so I'm sure about that argument.

Other than the sweepers you can drink beer while participating without setting it down or dramatically altering what you have to do. You have to set your beer down to bat or field in most cases.

Pretty hard to drink a beer while in the hack throwing a stone, too (which is the curling equivalent of batting, I guess). So, aside from 3/4 of the active participants not being able to do what you're saying...I guess you're sorta right.

 

(Of course, I've already admitted that I play on a team that chooses not to skip or sweep some ends so that the rest of the team can go drink and / or smoke during competition....so maybe I'm not the greatest ambassador for this sport. Not to mention, the ability to keep a beer on the ice is a selling point to a bunch of people I know.)

 

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow, a Dutch speedskater missed a crossover in the 10,000 and cost himself the gold medal. He had the race won by 4+ seconds but forgot to change lanes. Wow. The Netherlands must be in shock right now.

I told my wife that was like the 3rd base coach sending the runner home when the shortstop has the ball...only it's in Game 7 of the World Series.

How is that the coaches' fault? Isn't that 100% on the skater?

[RobertR]

Ultimately, it is on the skater. But, the coach confusing him as to which lane he should be in was certainly a contributing factor. If he had told the skater the right lane, it probably never would have happened. So, no, not 100%.

 

Robert

[Jimbo]

How is that the coaches' fault? Isn't that 100% on the skater?

The athlete was probably in oxygen debt, getting fatigued and all that. People don't always think clearly in those situations. Then he has a trusted coach instructing him to go inside.

As a viewer watching it live, I could see him skip over the orange pylon. Dan Jansen also noticed it, but never realized he was in the wrong lane the rest of the race. That's his job as an analyst! Dropped the ball on that one.

 

 

 

[Patrick425]

TooLiveBrew[/b]]

How is that the coaches' fault? Isn't that 100% on the skater?

I think it's completely the coach's fault. Some one equated it to a 3rd base coach. I'll equate it the caddy who doesn't realize that there are too many clubs in the bag. It's his job. It's the coaches job to understand what lane the skater should be in. The skater has every right to be upset. The coaches job is pretty simple compared to what the athlete had to go through just to get to that level of competition.

 

[paul253]

Great win for the US hockey team in what was probably a classic trap game. Playing a team they already beat. The #1 seed. Just came off a huge over Canada. Now they are assured of playing for a medal, which few people expected. That win over Canada was huge, not just for confidence, but look at how it affected the draw. Canada, Russia, and Sweden, arguably the 3 best teams, are all on the other side of the bracket. Speaking of which, that Canada-Russia game tonight is going to be something else. I think if Canada loses the country is going to shut down!